Wilbourn is charged with fatally shooting Bolton shortly after 9 p.m. on Aug. 1, 2015, in the 4800 block of Summerlane in the area of Cottonwood and South Perkins.

Jury selection was expected to end on Monday, but by late afternoon, it was not clear if the pool would be whittled down to size by Tuesday.

"In the death penalty case there's going to be jurors who believe they cannot impose the death penalty. By the same token, there's jurors who believe a person convicted of first-degree murder should always get the death penalty," defense attorney Juni Ganguli said. "And so the law is that jurors must be able to follow the law, which includes imposition of the death penalty. But they must also be able to consider mitigation. It's not mandatory that Tremaine gets the death penalty."

Late last year, attorneys asked the court to no longer require Wilbourn to wear stun cuff while in court, but they were unsuccessful.

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October 29 2018 - Tremaine Wilbourn is seen inside of Judge Lee Coffee's courtroom as jury selection begins for his upcoming trial. Wilbourn is charged with fatally shooting Memphis police officer Sean Bolton shortly after 9 p.m. on Aug. 1, 2015, in the 4800 block of Summerlane in the area of Cottonwood and South Perkins.(Photo: Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal)

Wilbourn has been charged with having drugs in jail and will wear a shock device around his waist during the trial, Ganguli said.

"I don't think it's necessary and we asked for the court not to do it, but for courtroom security purposes, it's going to happen," he said.

Wilbourn is now somber, his attorneys said.

"This is a very serious matter, obviously. And we've spent quite a bit of time with him over the last week talking to him. But he is obviously taking this very seriously and he is somber," said defense lawyer Laurie Hall.

On Monday, some of those potential jurors were released based on answers in a juror questionnaire about the death penalty.

Others were dismissed after Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee clarified the legal mandates on a death penalty ruling or what he called "first-degree murder plus something else."

The "something else" are the mitigating circumstances that will be presented during the trial, Coffee said.

Bolton, 33, according to police reports, pulled in front of a red 2002 Mercedes-Benz that had stopped on the side of the street, got out of his cruiser and approached the car. Wilbourn, a passenger in the Mercedes, got out of the vehicle and the men began to struggle.

Sean Bolton(Photo: MPD)

Police said Wilbourn pulled out a gun and fired on Bolton at close range. An autopsy report stated Bolton was hit eight times.

The report said Bolton was struck in the face, the right forearm, the right hip, the back of the right leg, the right torso, twice in the back of the left thigh and the right hand, with fatal shots to his abdomen. Those shots pierced Bolton’s liver, small intestine, small bowel, ascending colon and a major blood vessel, the report stated.

Later, officers found drug paraphernalia as well as 1.7 grams of marijuana in the Mercedes.

A man from the neighborhood picked up Bolton’s police radio and called dispatchers for help. Bolton was rushed to the Regional Medical Center in critical condition, where the autopsy report shows doctors spent an hour trying to revive him, but could not.

At the time of the shooting Wilbourn, 32, was out on supervised release from federal court for a 121-month sentence for bank robbery. He turned himself in on Aug. 3, 2015, to U.S. Marshals.

While in custody on first-degree murder charges, Wilbourn was charged with inciting to riot, resisting detention, drug charges and bringing in contraband.

Wilbourn pleaded guilty in April 2017 to a carjacking on the same day as the officer's shooting. He pleaded guilty to taking a 2002 Honda Accord, brandishing a gun during the carjacking and being a felon in possession of 9mm ammunition.

Dispatchers received an alert about the carjacking after Bolton was shot.

Wilbourn was sentenced to 28 years in prison by federal Judge Sheryl H. Lipman, who said during his hearing that he had a criminal history that went back to childhood and that he had been placed in protective custody several times.